Random bits on my mind

1. Saw the movie Yesterday in Martha's Vineyard. I've mixed feelings about it. The more I think about it the more I like it. The premise is that a world-wide electro-magnetic shift thrusts all the characters into an alternate universe where various things no longer exist, such as The Beatles -- the Beatles is the focus, because the point of view character or protagonist is a Beatles fan and a struggling musician. The lead is rather good, but Lily James as the love interest felt a bit weak. I also liked Kate McKinnon as the crazy tough corporate music lable manager, attempting to make a killing.

The plot? ( Read more... )

2. CBD -- this is now legal in New York, and Mass, apparently. So far a mixed bag. My mother is able to use it South Carolina -- she uses one drop each night for her legs. I've used it to regulate mood and anxiety, also back pain -- and it works like a charm.

But alas, there are interesting side effects.( Read more... )

3. Veronica Mars.

I read about this on vacation but unfortunately the friend I was staying with had NEVER watched the show and had no interest.

So any Veronica Mars fans or viewers out there?

Veronica Mars Season 4 Ending that is Unfair to Fans

OR basically the ending that pissed off a million fans, or to be exact shippers.
(I'm not sure anyone but the shippers is still devoted to the series. I lost interest ages ago with the lackluster third season and the bland movie. Rob Thomas, as a writer, is uneven, and a bit grating. I didn't fall for iZombie, and got tired of Mars mid-way through the third season. Yes, I know, he's doing "Noir" but it's sort of Noir light, and I've seen it done better elsewhere.]

Anyhow, he decides apparently to really do noir in Season 4. I'd considered getting a brief Hulu subscription to watch Veronica and S3 of Runaways back to back in December and January, but now I'm on the fence.

( Spoilers )

4. For Marvel fans...MCU Phase 4 and 5 plans.. SDCC has released some exciting news.

* They are doing a Female Thor film, that will premiere in 2020, starring Natalie Portman, when Jane Foster becomes Thor.

Wait. What? Wow.
( Details and casting spoilers below )

* Phase 4 - all Marvel's upcoming movies and television series

- Black Widow (a turning point in her life, pre-Avengers) - MAy 1, 2020

- The Falcon and the Winter Solider (fall 2020) - Disney Channel as a limited series
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- The Eternals - November 6, 2020

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* In 2021, Marvel will release its first film about a superhero of Asian descent. Meet Shang-Chi, a martial arts master played by Simu Liu. Liu is best known for his role on the Canadian sitcom Kim’s Convenience, and he’ll be starring in The Legend of the Ten Rings with Awkwafina and Tony Leung. Awkwafina’s role has yet to be announced, but Yeung will be playing the notorious Marvel supervillain the Mandarin. (Not the fake Mandarin we met in Iron Man 3 — the real one.)

* WandaVision -- limited series on the Disney+
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- Doctor Strange and the Multi-Verse of Madness
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* Loki -2021 or how the MCU keeps characters alive, while keeping them dead at the same time.

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* What IF? (Oh this is cool, it's animated, and an adaptation of Marvel's legendary What If series.)
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* Hawkeye - Disney + limited series

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* Blade is being redone with Marshali Ali
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YES!

* And of course, we're getting Captain Marvel 2, Black Panther 2, and Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

It's a great time to be a superhero fan. Isn't it?

5. Marvel X-Men Plans Revealed

And these are really interesting and different.

Jonathan Hickman is returning to Marvel next week to light a fire under the X-Men, and at San Diego Comic Con, he shared his plans for the first wave of X-Men comics to follow his place-setting launch titles, House of X and Powers of X.

Six books launch in the first wave: X-Men (Cyclops, Christopher Summers, Rachel Grey, Cable, Jean Grey, Vulcan, Havok, and Wolverine), Excalibur, X-Force, New Mutants, Fallen Angels and Marauders.

"House of X and Powers of X lay the groundwork for a whole new world of X-Men stories for years to come, and the Dawn of X books are the promise of that new world come to life,” said X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White in a press statement.

White later told Polygon more about the lead in books: "[After House of M] the [books] became less about acceptance by humankind and more about the fact that they were going extinct and that they might disappear as a species. That was the driving force of the X-Men, and while there have been fluctuations in that story over the years, I still think that generally that’s been the thrust of the line for quite a while. I think it was time for a change.”

Powers of X (pronounced "Powers of Ten" at the panel, but it's not clear if that was trolling or not) is the story of mutants throughout time, while House of X is more about the mutants in the now, though the two intertwine. They then reset the X-Men the same way "Disassembled" did to the world of the Avengers, and from there, the first wave of new books launch.

* X-men

X-Men #1 launches in October, written by Hickman with art from Leinil Francis Yu (who recently helped launch Ta-Nehisi Coates' Captain America).

This is the flagship X-book with the heaviest hitters and the series driving the rest of the line. It ALSO has almost nothing but Summerses on the cover - Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rachel Grey, Cable, Corsair, Havok, and okay-if-you-say-so-but-only-because-I-trust-you-Jonathan Vulcan - along with Wolverine in his scientifically proven best costume.


YES. A dream book for Cyclops fans everywhere.

* The Marauders

Marauders #1 also launches in October, from Gerry Duggan (Guardians of the Galaxy, Infinity Wars) and Matteo Lolli (Asgardians of the Galaxy).

This book has Emma Frost's Hellfire Trading Company funding a team of Marauders sailing the seas protecting mutants and presumably doing some light raiding. The team is led by Captain Kate Pryde and Lockheed, with Iceman, Storm, Bishop, and Pyro rounding out the crew. This book should probably be called Privateers but who am I kidding, I'm probably buying an X-Men book with Storm, Bishop, and Iceman on it.

[And from the cover? It appears that someone finally decided to give Emma Frost a costume that doesn't make her look like a Victoria Secret take on a Dominatrix Superhero.]

*The New Mutants (which frankly looks like a throwback, and again, a how-to guide on how Marvel resurrects a slew of characters that it recently killed off during a previous run)
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* The Excalibur

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* Fallen Angels

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*X-Force

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This looks wickedly cool. Marvel is putting X-men front and center again, and yes, there are plans to pull them into the MCU movie-verse. But not until Phase 5.

They've plotted it out though, and promise no more rebooting after this -- we hope.
I'm looking forward to new stories starring my favorite characters. With cool art.

Also, just so you know, Tessa, The Valkeryi is my default icon. She's also the first LGBTQA superhero in the MCU. (Not in the comics -- the comics have Northstar as the first, a mutant, and Bobby Drake.)